Griz look to bounce back against nationally ranked Louisville

Saturday, December 20

Louisville, Ky.

10:00 AM (MT)

Montana

Louisville

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke / University of Montana

Griz look to bounce back against nationally ranked Louisville

12/18/2025 2:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

MONTANA (6-6) at LOUISVILLE (9-2)
Saturday, Dec. 20 / 10:00 a.m. (MT) / Watch / Live Stats

The Montana men's basketball team will close out the non-conference portion of the schedule on Saturday against its toughest test yet. The Grizzlies will travel across the country to take on No. 11 Louisville inside the KFC Yum! Center in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

The Grizzlies will look to bounce from a tough loss on Wednesday and close out the non-conference portion of the schedule with momentum as they prepare for the start of Big Sky Conference play.

There will be 12-day gap in between games following the Louisville game before Montana hosts Northern Arizona in the first Big Sky Conference game of the season on New Year's Day.

The first priority for Montana will be to get healthy heading into league play. Already without Courtney Anderson Jr. on Wednesday, Montana also had to deal with the last-second scratch of starter Tyler Thompson because of illness.

The shorthanded Grizzlies were shocked at home by Montana Tech, falling 82-75 to drop to 6-6 on the year. The Orediggers averaged just six made threes per game coming into Wednesday night but got hot at the right time, making 14, the most by any Griz opponent this year.

Montana will need to be firing on all cylinders against a nationally ranked opponent on Saturday. In the last three games against ranked opponents dating back to 2023, Montana has been outscored by nearly 30 points per game.

They will face a high-octane Louisville team under second-year head coach Pat Kelsey. The Cardinals are averaging 91.4 points per game this season to rank 14^th in the NCAA in scoring.

Louisville makes nearly 13 three-pointers per game, ranking 3^rd in the NCAA. They attempt over 35 threes per game. Despite Tech's hot shooting on Wednesday night, the Grizzlies are still holding opponents under 30 percent from beyond the arc.

They will need a fantastic defensive effort to try to limit the Cardinals. The game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra with Rich Hollenberg on play-by-play and Emeka Okafor as the analyst. The game will tip at 10:00 a.m. (MT).

GRIZ AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
This is the 54^th game against a ranked opponent in Montana program history. The Grizzlies are 5-48 all-time against ranked opposition. Coach DeCuire is 0-11 in games against ranked teams.

This is the fourth straight season that the Grizzlies have played a top 11 team in the country. They played #11 Tennessee and #13 Wisconsin last season. The last time Montana defeated a ranked opponent was March 16, 2006 vs. Nevada in the NCAA Tournament.

Montana's last road win over a ranked team came in 2002 when they went on the road to beat #19 Stanford.

MONTANA VS. THE ACC
This is just the fourth time under Coach DeCuire that Montana has played a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference, but the second this season. The Grizzlies played Stanford earlier this season, falling 91-68. It was the first game against the league since beating Pitt in 2017.

Montana is 1-6 all-time vs. the ACC. They have played five regular season games against teams from the conference and two NCAA Tournament games, most recently playing Boston College in the Second Round in 2006.

WILLIAMS NAMED TO LOU HENSON AWARD WATCH LIST
Junior guard Money Williams has been named to the Lou Henson Award Early Season Watch List, CollegeInsider.com announced this week. The award is presented annually to the top player in mid-major college basketball.

Williams earned the Lou Henson National Player of the Week award earlier in the season following back-to-back 30-point games at UNLV and Cal Poly. There are 50 players on the early season watch list.

SCOUTING LOUISVILLE (9-2, 0-0 ACC)

The Cardinals are coming off an 83-62 loss at #20 Tennessee. They had won their previous two games, including an 87-78 win against #22 Indiana.
The only two losses for Louisville this season were both against ranked opponents on the road. They fell by 9 at #25 Arkansas on Dec. 3.
Pat Kelsey is in his second season with Louisville after a successful stint at the College of Charleston. Kelsey led the Cardinals to a 27-8 record in his first season and has them off to a terrific start again in 2025-26. He has a career winning percentage of .692 in 14 seasons at Winthrop, Charleston, and Louisville.
Louisville has two ranked wins this season, beating then-#9 Kentucky and #22 Indiana.
This is the last non-conference game of the season for Louisville. They open ACC play on Dec. 30 at California.
The Cardinals are averaging 91.4 points per game to rank 14^th in the NCAA. They also have a top 100 defense, leading to a 21.9 scoring margin to rank 12^th nationally.
The three-point line has been a strength for Louisville. They rank in the top four in the NCAA in both threes made (12.6) and attempted (35.1).
Louisville is holding opponents under 40 percent shooting from the field, ranking 32^nd in the NCAA by allowing just 39.1 percent from the floor.
Ryan Conwell is averaging 19.6 points per game this year to rank 39^th in the country. Conwell is shooting over 40 percent from three-point range while making nearly four per game. His 41 total made threes are 9^th most in the country.
Mikel Brown Jr. missed the Tennessee game with an injury. He's averaging 16.6 points and 5.1 assists per game this year.
6-11 forward Sananda Fru is the leading rebounder on Louisville with 6.1 per game.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE CARDINALS
This is the first ever meeting between Montana and Louisville.

GRIZ NOTES

Coach DeCuire used a new starting lineup for the first time this season on Wednesday. Brooklyn Hicks and Amari Jedkins entered the opening lineup in place of Tyler Thompson and Te'Jon Sawyer. The same five had started the first 11 games.
Montana had allowed more than 8 three pointers in a game just once this season entering Wednesday night's game. Stanford made 10, which was the most allowed by Montana. The Orediggers went 14-of-29 (.483) from three point range in the upset win.
The Griz have more turnovers than their opponent in 10 of 12 games. They are 2-0 when committing fewer turnovers, but 4-6 when committing more.
In road games, Montana is shooting 52.3 percent from the field and 44.0 percent from three-point range.
Money Williams is averaging 25.3 points per game on 59.0 percent shooting in Montana's four road games.
The Grizzlies have scored 100+ points in three games already this season. It's tied for the most 100-point games in a single season in program history. The Grizzlies also reached the century mark three times in 1965-66 and 1990-91.
Montana shot 70.5 percent from the floor against Salish Kootenai. It's the first time since 1968 that Montana has shot over 70 percent in a game, and the 5th best shooting percentage in the NCAA this year.
Montana is 6-1 when going on a 10-point scoring run during the game.
The Grizzlies ranked 2nd through 6th in scoring on the team are all averaging between 8.7 and 10.2 points per game.
In six wins, Montana is averaging 92.0 points per game. In the five losses, they are averaging just 74.3 points per game.
Montana overcame a halftime deficit for the first time this season at North Dakota (12/6). The halftime leader has gone on to win in 11 of the first 12 games this season.
Montana overcame a 10-point deficit at North Dakota (12/6). It's the largest come-from-behind win this season for the Griz, and the largest since coming back from 14 points down against Eastern Washington last March.
Montana has a better field goal percentage than its opponent in 9 of 12 games this season.
The Griz lost while outrebounding their opponent for the first time this season on Wednesday. They are 4-1 when finishing with more rebounds.
The Griz played in seven straight games decided by single digits from Nov. 11 to Dec. 6. 8 of 12 games have been decided by single digits.
Montana has been .500 or better through 10 games every season since 2020-21.
The Grizzlies have allowed 80+ points in seven games this year.

PLAYER NOTES

Te'Jon Sawyer set new career highs with 23 points and 12 rebounds on Wednesday. It's the second double-double of his career but first with Montana.
Sawyer came off the bench for the first time in 40 games on Wednesday. He responded with the best statistical game of his Grizzly career.
Tyler Thompson is 14-of-26 (.538) from three-point range over his last four games. He's made multiple threes in all four. Thompson missed Wednesday night's loss with an illness.
Money Williams recorded his 3rd double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 assists against Salish Kootenai (12/10).
Williams now has two games with 10+ assists this season. It's tied for the 6th most in the country. Purdue's Braden Smith leads with six games. He's the first Grizzly since Cameron Parker in 2021-22 to have two 10-assist games in the same year.
Tyler Isaak recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 assists against Salish Kootenai (12/10). The 10 assists are a new career high for Isaak.
Isaak ranks 21^st in the NCAA with a 3.92 assist/turnover ratio.
Money Williams is the only player in the NCAA this season averaging at least 19.0 points, 6.0 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game.
Brooklyn Hicks started his first game as a Grizzly on Wednesday. It's the 8^th start of his career. He scored 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in the start.